The Moments Between
by ampersounds
Summary: Probably just a oneshot. My take on what happened immediately after the end of "When the Gun Goes Bang, Bang, Bang."


Maura thought her heart was going to beat straight out of her chest. She knew, of course, that such a thing was physically impossible given her current heart rate and overall cardiovascular health. But, even her extensive knowledge couldn't keep that troublesome muscle from feeling like it was about to burst. _Stop_, her brain chided itself, _Jane_. She had to focus. Jane was hurt. Jane needed her. Time seemed to slow to an excruciating halt as Maura rushed out the front doors of the Boston Police Department, and although she knew that effect was only caused by her amygdala responding to an overproduction of epinephrine, it made her job much more difficult. She cursed her uncontrollable lacrimal gland for the hot spring of tears that spilled over her cheeks as she watched Jane collapse into an unconscious pile on the ground.

The flashing police lights and screaming sirens hardly fazed the Chief Medical Examiner as she fell to the pavement beside Jane, disregarding the cuts and contusions that were likely forming on her bare knees at that very moment. Korsack and Frost were still too stunned to say anything, and merely hovered over Maura and watched, knowing that she could do more for the fallen detective than either of them could. Maura sucked in a shaky breath as she gazed down at her friend, her only friend, and tried desperately not to give in to the impending sobs that threatened to render her completely useless. She had to think like a doctor, not Jane's best friend.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she heard Korsack and Frost calling Jane's name. Maura's thoughts were elsewhere. She began to mumble to quietly to herself, trying to keep herself from breaking down into a worthless wreck. "Airway… breathing…" She extended a cautious hand toward Jane's face and titled it ever so slightly towards her, feeling an uncomfortable tug in her chest as she did so. She leaned over her, so close that her hair gently brushed Jane's skin, and listened. She was still breathing. There was no way Maura was giving up hope yet. "Circulation…" Taking Jane's limp hand in her own, Maura placed her middle and index fingers on the inside of the fallen detective's wrist and felt for a pulse. It was there, but it was growing fainter by the second. Her breathing was becoming more and more haggard. "Oh, no…"

"Dr. Isles?" Korsack demanded, urgently. He knew almost as well as Maura did what was going on, and he also know that the doctor was the only thing keeping Jane from death until that ambulance showed up. Frost looked as though he was about to be sick.

"I-I'm doing everything I can!" Maura snapped, tears streaking her face and leaving tiny spots on Jane's pink shirt. She hunched over Jane's body once again, determined not to let her hysterics get the better of her. She would _not_ let Jane die. "Jane, please…" In all of her worst nightmares, this was something Maura had never wanted to become a reality. She had seen it in her subconscious many times. Visions that haunted her every time Jane ran off into some crime scene. Never had she imagined these visions would seep through into reality, and at Jane's own hand, no less. "Please stay with me."

Maura placed one hand on Jane's sternum, just between her breasts, and rested her other hand on top of it. At that point, she simply couldn't hold back any longer. It was as if a dam had broken somewhere behind those big, green eyes, and she began to sob openly as she started the chest compressions. She hardly noticed the sounds of an E. M. T. hurtling towards them from about a block away.

Korsack had turned deathly pale, his eyes bright with tears as he watched the scene unfold before him. Frost had gone elsewhere, presumably to flag down the quickly approaching ambulance, but Korsack refused to leave Jane's side. Maura was pleading with her, begging. "Please, Jane, please," it was all she could seem to say. Ever so gingerly, she tilted Jane's head back and moved in closer. Jane's breathing had stopped.

Marua's heart may as well have stopped with it.

"No," she cried frantically, cupping Jane's cheeks in her hand, "no, no, no no. Jane. Wake up. Jane!" Korsack was running towards the ambulance that had just arrived, helping them wheel out stretchers and pointing them in the right direction. Frost was with him, both of them looking as though they might faint at any second. Maura placed her fingers over Jane's nose and pinched it shut. Without hesitation, she leaned over and placed her lips against the other woman's. Under different circumstances, she may have paused to think about how much she had longed for this moment—but now was not the time for foolish fantasies. Exhaling deeply, she felt her breath fill Jane's lungs, and broke herself away from the brunette's disturbingly cool lips to perform more chest compressions.

The medical workers practically had to pry Maura away from Jane. There wasn't an ounce of calm left in her. By the time they had raised Jane onto one of the stretchers, Maura was dashing alongside it, still trying to give her the chest compressions she felt she so desperately needed. Just as they were about to haul Jane, Frankie, and Bobby away, Maura noticed Jane's eyes flutter open. She choked on a breath, reaching her hand toward Maura from within the ambulance.

"Maura—" she gasped, just before the medical workers slammed the door in Maura's face and sped off toward the hospital.

Maura sank to the ground, buried her face in her hands, stained with Jane's blood, and wept.


End file.
